Nagaland: The State Which has not Elected a Women MLA Yet

KOHIMA: The state of Nagaland goes for elections on February 27 and 1317634 voters will decide the fate of 183 candidates for 59 constituencies in the state and one candidate has already been declared the winner because of the lack of any other candidates in the constituency. But what remains to see is that if Nagaland will elect its first female member of the legislative assembly this year.

The state has seen a higher turnout of female voters compared to their male counterparts in multiple elections held there, but they have not elected a single female candidate to represent their constituency in the legislative assembly. Other key trends from the previous elections include the good number of unopposed candidates and the key role of the independent political players in the state.

The sex ratio in the state stands at 931:1000 but outperforms in terms of the literacy rate. The state saw female candidates for the first time during the election for the second state assembly in 1969, but they lost by a huge margin wherein more than 80 % of the women and more than 76% of the men of the state cast their votes. It was only three times that the percentage of male voter turnouts exceeded their female counterparts in a total of 13 elections till now.

In 1982, the state had the elections for its 5th state assembly and the public saw another female candidate contesting independently. She saw the face of defeat, but later was successful in the General Elections and became the only female candidate from the state to be elected to the Lok Sabha. S Phangnon Konyak was later nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Nagaland.

A total of fifteen female candidates contested under different banners in 1989, but they all lost in the race. And four women will be appearing as candidates in the upcoming polls.

Also Read: Nagaland: 183 Candidates to Compete for 59 Seats on February 27

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